Statistics

For many people, statistics rank right up there with fingernails on a chalkboard, taxes, or visiting the dentist. As painful as they may be, statistics can be very useful to your United Way. At Perspectives, we use statistics from our research with local United Way donors to help United Ways measure donor awareness, evaluate donor satisfaction, grow donor loyalty, and understand what it will take to get donors to increase their contribution.

[Spoiler Alert!] Before I can share with you what your United Way will need to do to get your donors to increase their contribution, we’ll probably have to discuss some statistical concepts, but I promise to make it as pain free as possible!

Too Few Donors Increase Their Contributions

Over the years, United Ways have asked us to help them figure out how to get donors to increase their contribution. When United Ways analyze their donor contribution history, they often find that fewer than ten percent of their year-over-year donors (donors who have given two years in a row) have increased their contribution. Put another way, for every 100 donors who supported United Way last year, fewer than 10 of those donors will increase their contribution this year.

It would seem like it should be a lot easier to get more than 10 donors out of every 100 donors to increase their contribution – but it isn’t as simple as it seems, and it isn’t for a lack of trying. This is where donor research comes in and we can identify what it takes to get a donor to increase their contribution.

Correlation

Our statistical concept for today is correlation. Simply defined (or as simply as possible) from the Merriam-Webster dictionary, correlation is “a relation existing between phenomena or things or between mathematical or statistical variables which tend to vary, be associated, or occur together in a way not expected on the basis of chance alone.” For example, there is a correlation between exposure to the sun and skin cancer. The more exposure you have to the sun, the more likely you will have skin cancer and similarly the less exposure you have to the sun, the less likely you will have skin cancer.  O.K. we know enough about statistics to be able to explore what it will take to get your donors to increase their contribution.

Strongly Correlated

We have tested a lot of different possibilities for getting donors to increase their contribution and have found most things do not correlate with increased contributions. For example, the act of thanking donors has a very weak correlation with increased contributions meaning that just thanking someone for giving to your United Way does not influence them to increase their contribution next year. Please understand that you must thank your donors or else they may never give to you again. Failure to acknowledge a donation can result in a disappearing donor. But it takes more than a thank you for a donor to increase their contribution next year.

The strongest correlation we have ever found for getting a donor to increase their gift is the donor’s understanding of the impact of their contribution. The more a donor said they understood the impact of their contribution, the more likely they would be to increase their contribution and similarly the less a donor knows about the impact of their contribution, the less likely they would be to increase their contribution.

The correlation between the donor’s understanding of the impact of their contribution and a donor increasing their contribution is so strong that we can predict how many donors increased their contribution based on how many donors clearly understood the impact of their contribution.

Have we tested absolutely every possibility for increasing a donor’s contribution – probably not. But, over the years, we have tested all sorts of things – multiple ways of thanking donors, frequency of communication, types of communication, ease of giving, offering awards and prizes, different forms of donor recognition, etc. Nothing we have tested comes close to a donor understanding the impact of their contribution correlating to a donor increasing their contribution.

[Warning: Statistic-speak ahead] For you stat nerds out there, we have consistently found Pearson coefficients of .8 and higher between a donor understanding the impact of their contribution and a donor who increases their contribution across multiple United Way donor research studies.

Communicating Impact

To get your donors to increase their contribution you must be communicating the impact of the donor’s contribution. What your donors want and need to know is how their contribution will change lives. Will people who are homeless have homes, will adults who were unable to finish high school be earning their GED, will families who are struggling to make ends meet become financially stable, etc.?

Donors need to know the impact of their contribution to change lives, not the impact of their contribution on United Way. The amount of money raised, or the number of programs funded, is all about United Way, not how the donor changed lives. Impact is always the result of the contribution, not the processes of United Way.

Getting your donors to increase their contribution requires your United Way to communicate the impact of the donor’s contribution as it relates to changing lives. Use every opportunity you can to communicate how your donor’s contribution changes lives:

• Campaign brochure, pledge form, posters, presentations

• Thank you emails, notes, and calls

• Social media posts

• Web site

• Annual reports

• Speaking to community groups

• News articles and interviews

• Monthly newsletters

• Videos

Finally, it is not necessary for a donor to understand all of the ways their contribution changes lives. In fact, communicating too much information can be overwhelming to donors. Highlighting a few ways your donor’s contribution changes lives will be more likely to be remembered and understood by donors. Get your donors to increase their contribution by clearly communicating the impact of their contribution.